Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Boys' Room!

Part of making room for a baby is actually making a room for her! This means that at some point, my boys will be sharing a room. So what better time than the present, right?! Brian and I spent some time yesterday rearranging furniture and getting this room ready for the boys to share! I'm really happy with how it came together!

Yesterday also was the day that my "baby" boy (on the right) started sleeping in a toddler bed. Look how proud! So, there you have it...we're now the parents of two big boys! Time is flying, we look like we've aged a bit, but we are loving this journey of parenthood!

Contributors

Our Adoption Timeline

January 2009 - We saw Slumdog Millionaire, and God really began to stir our hearts about international adoption.

February 2009 - We had serious conversations and prayer about adopting from Ethiopia.

March 2009 - We had our phone orientation with Gladney (our adoption agency), decided to adopt from Ethiopia, and sent away for our application.

April 2009 - We submitted our application to Gladney, and began the paper chase!

May 2009 - We had our doctor appointments, continued the paper chase, and had our homestudy visit.

June 2009 - We submitted our last item of required paperwork to accompany our application to Gladney. Our homestudy report was completed and submitted to Gladney. On June 30th, our second anniversary, we received word from Gladney that we were fully approved to be an adoptive family through the Gladney Center, and that they sent our homestudy to CIS.

July 2009 - We received our "invitation" from CIS to come for fingerprinting. We were fingerprinted on July 18, 2009.

September 2009 - Our CIS approval notice arrived in the mail. Dossier completed and sent off on September 8. Placed on Gladney's wait list on September 8.

May 2010 - We received our referral for two boys--brothers--on May 24. The older is 19 months old. The younger is 1 month old.

July 2010 - We passed phase one of the court process on July 19th.

August 2010 - We traveled to Addis Ababa to meet the boys, go to court, legally become their parents, sight see a bit, and return home for three weeks. We returned to Ethiopia on August 30th, when they were placed forever in our arms! We are a family of four!

October 2010 - We received the boys' Certificates of Citizenship in the Mail from CIS!

November 2010 - We completed the Recognition of Foreign Adoption Decree process here in Texas, and received the boys' original birth certificates issued by the state of Texas!